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NODES - Spoke 4 consolidates relations with the Aosta Valley area, introducing the design visions resulting from the educational workshop "Designing the Alps of tomorrow: new production scenarios"   The day of 11 July 2024 developed through the meeting of around forty students from the Polytechnic of Turin with local stakeholders from real municipalities in the valley. This design experience - the outcome of the six-monthly workshop which saw the students try their hand at designing pilot projects in some of the municipalities covered by the Nodes, Spoke 4, RM1 research - was articulated through a series of meetings in the area, including the the last one, which took place on 11 July 2024 at Skyway, in Courmayeur, which saw the participation of numerous stakeholders from the Aosta Valley area. Specifically, the educational exercise proposed to the forty students involved within the educational workshop "Designing the Alps of tomorrow: new production scenarios" (Polytechnic University of Turin - teachers Roberto Dini, Valentina Serra, Valerio Lo Verso, Francesca Thiebat ) was focused on the development of a series of pilot projects, with the aim of proposing possible processes for the recovery and reactivation of abandoned properties: the Linguistic high school of Courmayeur, the former railway station with the adjoining Morgex warehouse, the former barracks of Saint Marcel and the former mining complex of Ollomont.   The day - promoted by the Courmayeur Mont Blanc Foundation and the Polytechnic of Turin, and held at Skyway in Courmayeur - was a moment of reflection on these possible transformative scenarios, bringing together the local actors directly interested around the projects: mayors and municipal councilors, facilitators social, but also the local Order of Architects. The issues addressed on this occasion can be traced back to different dimensions and scales of the project: on a technological-energy level, wondering what sustainable materials and construction systems could be, in terms of both the impact of emissions and their presence or absence within the local production chains; but also in terms of the social and economic impact that these projects can have within territorial systems with variable networks. The day took place around two complementary moments: in the Pavillon's La Verticale conference room in the morning, during which the maquettes and graphic designs were set up in front of which the discussion took place, culminating in the award ceremony of the three projects deemed most interesting by the local jury (made up of Roberto Ruffier, Sandro Sapia, Michele Saulle). In the afternoon we moved to the highest Punta Helbronner, to admire the surrounding snowy landscape from a privileged point of view. The didactic dimension is therefore intertwined with both the research and dissemination dimensions, allowing students to plan through an experience that brings them as close as possible to reality, and to the territory to receive input and visions resulting from lenses different from those to which they are most accustomed.   Below are experts, local stakeholders, teachers involved in the process and present on the final day: Politecnico di Torino – Roberto Dini, Valentina Serra, Valerio Lo Verso, Francesca Thiebat, Silvia Lanteri, Alessandro Depaoli; Fondazione Courmayeur Mont Blanc - Roberto Ruffier, Elise Champvillair GAL Valle d’Aosta - Marta Anello; Comune di Saint-Marcel - Andrea Bionaz, Alessandro Grange; Comune di Ollomont - David Vevey; Comune di Morgex - Barzagli Federico; Comune di La Thuile - Mathieu Ferraris; Ordine degli Architetti della Valle d’Aosta - Sandro Sapia; Michele Saulle; Piero Brunod.  

As announced in the NODES News dated 04/07/2024 (available at the following link), the new PhD student MS Skylar Tang has been recruited by Politecnico di Torino to assist the startup Paperbox Health in the development of the software DINO, a gamified computer app designed to assist in the early identification and possible diagnosis of learning disabilities. The student is enrolled in the PhD program in Mathematical Sciences, 40th cycle.    The software is based on a hierarchical Bayesian model, a special kind of content-based AI tools, implementing ideas coming from Item Response Theory (IRT). 

On November 13, 2024, the event "Tourism and culture: innovation for the South" was held at the University of Sannio, a partner of Spoke 3 - Tourism and Culture Industry, organized as part of the Roadshow Mezzogiorno initiative.   During the day, Dr. Marco Biolatti of the University of Turin and Prof. Stefania Cerutti of the University of Eastern Piedmont showed those present the results obtained to date with the two flagship projects CIRIL and TOEP; projects aimed at enhancing the territory and culture thanks to the use of new technologies.   The main protagonists of the event were the companies operating in southern Italy, which had the opportunity to win funds from the cascade calls through which they were able to start interesting industrial research and experimental development projects. The companies presented their progress, showed some prototypes and explained to those present how new technologies are revolutionizing the tourism and culture sector in the South but also the Made in Italy sector. Interesting and noteworthy are the applications proposed for conscious tourism and for the protection of Made in Italy and the recognition of counterfeit items. The companies also had the opportunity to discuss and network with each other   At the end of the meeting there was an interesting round table that allowed researchers and companies to discuss what has been done so far and possible actions to take in the future.

An event dedicated to food law and fraud The conference of November 6, organized at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, was the occasion to disseminate the results of the research carried out by Lorenzo Bairati, Michele Antonio Fino and Elena Corcione, with particular reference to the topic of unfair commercial practices in communication of quality and agri-food sustainability and their legal consequences in terms of consumer protection and competition.   To complete our perspective (mostly focused on EU sources), the participation of external speakers at the conference was also planned (Lawyer Ferraris of the Turin Bar Association and Lt. Col. Raffaello Ciliento and Mar. Ord. Fabio Chiariello – Carabinieri Agri-food Protection Unit of Turin) who focused on the sources of domestic law.   The topics of discussion were greenwashing and Directive 2024/825 of 28 February 2024 on consumer empowerment for the green transition. At the centre of the debate were also the relationship between food fraud and Italian sounding, advertising self-discipline, the role of the AGCM and ordinary and administrative jurisdiction, in addition to commercial fraud in the wine sector.

La raccolta per le candidature si è conclusa il 31 ottobre 2024. Come da DD n. 101 del 25/10/2024 è stato ulteriormente aggiornato nell’Area Riservata alle imprese l'Elenco dei Revisori Legali e delle Società di Revisione Legale per i Bandi a Cascata NODES. Hub NODES, infatti, al fine di supportare le imprese finanziate a valere sui Bandi a cascata, ha raccolto le candidature spontanee da parte di professionisti che volevano essere inseriti nell'elenco dei Revisori Legali per i Bandi a Cascata. Le candidature sono state inoltrate via PEC all’indirizzo nodes@pec.it fino al 31 ottobre 2024 Per maggiori dettagli su requisiti e modalità di presentazione si prega di leggere l'avviso pubblicato e la relativa Privacy Policy Vai alla pagina dell'avviso 

On 6 November, Università di Catania held the seminar "Power Electronics for electric mobility". Unict is an integral part of the Electro Flagship Project, the research project dedicated to electric mobility. The university's research team, led by Professor Giacomo Scelba, presented the progress on GaN-based On-board Battery Charging solutions to companies and researchers in the public. A more extensive in-depth analysis of the entire Electro project can be found here. The seminar dealt in depth with the activities of the research groups of Converters, Electrical Machines and Drives and Electrotechnics of Unict and in particular the results of the two groups for power electronics. Spoke 1 presented the objectives and results obtained with the funding of industrial research and for the formation of networks and connections between the actors of innovation in the territory, to facilitate the knowledge of the projects and the collaboration between research and industry, between actors of excellence in northern and southern Italy.   The Flagship Project  

A prestigious recognition for innovative design  The Appl[e]ause project, developed by Cristian Campagnaro, Raffaele Passaro, Isabella de Vecchi, Nicolò Buselli and Giuseppe Maroncelli, has been selected for the ADI Design Index 2024, a competition organized by ADI Association for Industrial Design.   This work is the result of a collaboration between the PolitoFoodDesignLab of the DAD - Department of Architecture and Design of the Polytechnic University of Turin and PanaceaSocialFarm.   The research aims to enhance the secondary by-products of the Piedmontese fruit agro-industry, specifically identifying apple pomace as a source of dietary fiber and nutrients. Through a codesign approach, the project experiments with the creation of new food products at increasingly advanced levels of technological maturity, highlighting their aesthetic, organoleptic and nutritional aspects to propose new uses for this production waste in the formulation of 7 new baked goods: breadsticks, biscuits, pretzels, chips, pandolce, focaccia and muffins. Find out more

On October 29 and 30, a delegation from the University of Aachen and the BioeconomyREVIER cluster visited the universities of Pavia and Turin as part of the NODES project, strengthening collaboration between European academic and research institutions. The meeting saw the collaboration and participation of researchers from Spoke 2, 6 and 7, on Green and sustainability issues specific to our territory.   On the 29th, Giuseppina Sandri from the University of Pavia touched on the topic of smart packaging with a speech entitled Development of innovative materials for packaging and smart-packaging from waste products. The intervention was part of the day dedicated to innovation in the primary agro-industry and was organized in collaboration with Spoke 6.   The themes of Spoke 7 were also presented the following day, when the delegation met researchers at the University of Turin. Here, the researcher from the Polytechnic of Turin Diana Massai presented the challenges and opportunities of cultured meat as an alternative protein food to conventional meat produced through intensive farming as a sustainable, “healthy, green and smart” resource. He also provided an overview of the research network on cultured meat that is being created in Piedmont between the various regional universities, also thanks to the support of the Center for Studies and Research on Sustainable Food.    The meeting strengthened the dialogue between our universities and Aachen, highlighting the innovations that the territory is carrying forward in terms of sustainability in the secondary agro-industry sector.

On October 29th, a delegation from the University of Aachen and the BioeconomyREVIER cluster visited Pavia as part of the NODES project, strengthening collaboration between European academic and research institutions. Researchers from Spoke 6 participated in discussions on sustainable energy, innovative biosensors, and agricultural strategies.   Norma Anglani from the Department of Industrial and Information Engineering presented on developing agricultural energy hubs, focusing on microgrids to optimize energy consumption in farms, as part of the RM1 project under the flagship initiative "Formidabile." Lorenzo Pasotti and Michele Conti from the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture showcased biosensors engineered from living materials using 3D bioprinting, useful for monitoring agro-industrial processes.  Graziano Rossi from the Department of Earth Sciences and Environment discussed vineyard management strategies in the face of climate change, suggesting alternative crops like olives and hazelnuts. The delegation also visited the Germplasm Bank at the Botanical Garden, guided by Francesco Ferrari, to explore genetic resource conservation. In the afternoon, Pietro Galinetto and Maddelena Patrini from the Department of Physics introduced advanced optical sensing methods for vineyard management. Daniela Rossi presented techniques for extracting biologically active compounds from viticultural waste, with applications in sectors such as medicine and cosmetics.   The meeting reinforced dialogue between Pavia and Aachen, highlighting the importance of innovative solutions for sustainability in the primary agro-industrial sector.

L'Ecosistema dell'Innovazione NODES è pronto a lanciare sul sito web la nuova sezione "PEOPLE": un canale per promuovere le persone coinvolte direttamente nel progetto.    L'iniziativa è pensata in particolare per il personale appositamente assunto su NODES, non già parte della massa critica: ricercatori a tempo determinato, dottorandi di ricerca, borsisti, assegnisti, tecnologi e tecnici della ricerca. Nei prossimi giorni saranno inviati via email i questionari per inserire tutte le informazioni che riguardano il proprio lavoro e che si desidera condividere sul sito dell'Ecosistema: un'occasione per farsi conoscere e diventare ancor più protagoniste e protagonisti di quest'avventura.

“Inside the heart of Industrial Piemonte, to discover the value of those who create value” is the claim of the fifth edition of ''Open Factories'', the initiatives of the Region of Piemonte aimed at promoting the value of business culture and, in particular, the ''factory'' as an essential element of the social, entrepreneurial and professional wealth of Piemonte.    Also this year, the Bioindustry Park, partner of NODES' Spoke 5, participated together with 140 facilities across the region, which were exceptionally opened their doors for the occasion. The initiative allowed visitors to gain direct insight into industrial production sites and to ''experience firsthand'' the ability to transform ideas and projects into outstanding processes and products.    Over two afternoons, on October 24th and 25th, Colleretto Giacosa headquarters welcomed groups of visitors, predominantly young people interested in the reality of the Science and Technology Park. They were guided through an exploitation of the heart of biotechnological innovation, discovering advanced technologies for the health and life sciences sector.    Over 11.000 visitors registered, and 150 school classes organized a company visit.   The reality of the PArk was presented togeher with companies : Merck Serono, AorticLab, Bridge4pharma and Fondazione ITS Biotecnologie e Nuove Scienze della Vita Piemonte which accompained the participants on a visit to the laboratory with the help of teachers and students.    The event was co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), serving as an opportunity to showcase to citizens the various ways in which ERDF resources can be effectivaly utilized. It was organized in partnership with the NODES project - Innovation Ecosystem for a Digital and Sustainable Northwest, funded by the MUR - PNRR, D.D. n.1054. 

Da giovedì 24 a sabato 26 Ottobre 2024 si è tenuta la quinta edizione di Fabbriche Aperte Piemonte, iniziativa della Regione Piemonte che ha permesso di visitare gratuitamente i luoghi della produzione industriale del territorio piemontese. Più di 140 stabilimenti hanno aperto le loro porte, permettendo al grande pubblico di scoprire il valore che si nasconde dentro i luoghi, le fabbriche, gli stabilimenti e i laboratori che rappresentano le eccellenze economiche e tecnologiche del territorio.    L’Ecosistema dell'innovazione NODES - Nord Ovest Digitale E Sostenibile - ha partecipato all’iniziativa attraverso alcuni importanti partners di progetto che, grazie a Fabbriche Aperte Piemonte, hanno potuto far conoscere i i loro parchi scientifici tecnologici, la ricerca e le innovazioni: BIOINDUSTRY PARK SILVANO FUMERO sui temi della salute umana ed ENVIRONMENT PARK ​​​​su sostenibilità ambientale come motore di competitività.   Buon successo anche per le imprese protagoniste dei Progetti finanziati attraverso i Bandi a Cascata dell’Ecosistema NODES, che, durante le giornate, hanno aperto le loro porte e messo a disposizione interessanti percorsi di visita: